Church of the Conversion of St. Paul, Historic Centre, Žilina

The most important building on the west side of the square is the Church of the Conversion of St. Paul and its Jesuit monastery. Jesuits came to the town as missionaries around 1654. In 1691 they founded a lower grammar school that still operates today under different names. The monastery and church were completed in 1754. The Baroque church has one nave and two 32-meter towers. Its main altar dates from the mid-18th century; the painting of St. Paul the Apostle is by Jozef Božetech Klemens (1817–1883), a major 19th-century Slovak painter. Two side altars and the Baroque pulpit also date from the 18th century. Wall paintings depict St. Joseph, St. Ignatius of Loyola and the Crucifixion.

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